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The General Counsel is available to provide legal advice and representation to Rhode Island School of Design and its trustees, officers, employees, and student leaders while acting on the College’s behalf. The services of the General Counsel include advice and counsel on all matters having legal significance for the College, coordination of outside counsel handling lawsuits and specialized matters, assistance with policy development, review of major contracts, and preventive law workshops and educational programs.

As counsel for the College, the General Counsel cannot provide legal advice or representation to individuals in connection with matters against the College or with other personal matters. If you need personal legal advice or representation, you may be able to obtain information or assistance from the resources listed elsewhere on this page.

You may contact the General Counsel at any time, but you are encouraged to do so early on in matters in which legal issues may arise. With advance planning, it often is possible to reduce legal risks while still achieving your desired goals. If you have received a lawsuit, subpoena, or other legal notice or document involving the College, please notify the General Counsel immediately.

Communications with the General Counsel are protected by the privilege for attorney-client communications, and therefore are confidential, if they are made for the purpose of seeking legal advice on behalf of the College. Such communications ordinarily can be revealed only to other College officials, on a need-to-know basis. Communications with the General Counsel on personal legal matters (including matters against the College) or on non-legal matters are not privileged or confidential. The General Counsel may be affirmatively obligated to disclose any such communications to other College officials if the communications implicate the College’s legal interests. If you are not sure whether your matter is College-related or a personal one, please check with the General Counsel before sending any communications that you wish to remain confidential.

Although e-mail communications are protected by the attorney-client privilege to the same extent as communications made by other means, e-mail is not completely secure. Accordingly, please exercise appropriate discretion in using e-mail to communicate with the General Counsel about sensitive matters.